06/03/2026
'Alzheimer’s isn’t just forgetting. It’s losing your sense of safety. Feeling like a visitor in your own life.
'Today I had a very real conversation with my mum.
'She has Alzheimer’s. During a “memory muddle,” she forgets where she lives. She feels an overwhelming need to “go home” even though she is at home. Her house no longer feels familiar; it feels like a holiday place, somewhere temporary.
'She feels lost in a place that should feel safe. Confused. Distressed. Sometimes angry, because nothing feels familiar, even though she’s surrounded by the life she built.
'She knows she has these memory muddles not from remembering them herself, but because I have promised to always be honest with her. On her clearer days, we talk openly about her Alzheimer’s, and she understands the journey she is on.
'She had a memory muddle this morning, and Dad called me so I could talk with her. This afternoon, while I was spending time with her, I told her about it and she had no recollection of it at all.
'Then she broke down. And she apologised to me.
'For being confused.
'For getting cross.
'For having Alzheimer’s.
'She never needs to apologise to me. It broke my heart that she felt she needed to.
'That moment shattered me.
'Alzheimer’s isn’t just forgetting. It’s losing your sense of safety. Feeling like a visitor in your own life. Believing you’re on holiday because home no longer makes sense.
'For families, it’s watching someone you love apologise for a disease stealing them piece by piece.
'And yet, the lack of social care support is staggering. Families are discharged, passed around, or told to cope. Carers burn out quietly. Loved ones hold everything together behind closed doors.
'This isn’t good enough. Families living with Alzheimer’s need real, ongoing social care support, guidance, respite, and compassion.
‘My family needs more.’
